Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

Nov 16 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1400 GMT on Thursday:

** Emerson Electric Co boosted its offer to buy Rockwell Automation Inc to about $29 billion, after the smaller rival rebuffed a $27.6 billion bid last month saying it undervalued the company.

** Consumer financial services company Synchrony Financial said that it would buy $6.8 billion in receivables from PayPal Holdings Inc, including the payment processor’s U.S. consumer credit receivables portfolio.

** Expectations that Mediclinic International Plc, would succeed in taking over Britain’s Spire Healthcare Group fell after South Africa’s largest private hospital group said no deal had been reached.

** London-listed private equity firm 3i Group said it had no plans to dispose of its biggest asset, Dutch discount retailer Action, rebutting market speculation that a sale could be imminent.

** T-Mobile US will propose a “significant” share buyback that could start in December, CFO Braxton Carter said, a sign that the third-biggest carrier in the United States is confident in its outlook after the collapse of a merger with Sprint Corp.

** Premier Oil is seeking buyers for a 25 percent stake in the Tuna field development in Indonesia after reaching a gas sale deal with Vietnam, Chief Executive Tony Durrant said.

** Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp plans to invest as much as $25 billion in Saudi Arabia over the next three to four years, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

** Time Inc is in talks with Meredith Corp again to sell itself in a potential deal backed by billionaire brothers Charles Koch and David Koch, the New York Times reported.

** A Jardine Matheson company has built up an 8 percent stake worth $911.5 million in Vinamilk, Vietnam’s biggest-listed company, highlighting a strong interest from foreign groups to expand in one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies.

** Australian gas producer Santos Ltd said it rejected a A$9.5 billion ($7.2 billion) takeover approach in August, sending its shares up on speculation another offer was likely to emerge.

** Advertising giant WPP said it would be prepared to raise its stake in Japanese partner Asatsu-DK Inc (ADK) to 33 percent from 25 percent if a disputed tender offer for the company by Bain Capital failed.

** Ecuadorean state-owned oil firm Petroamazonas will sign an agreement this month to settle $300 million in unpaid bills from oil services company Schlumberger, an arrangement that includes a five-year financing deal, the Oil Ministry said.

** The U.S. Justice Department has approached 18 state attorneys general to try to win their support for an antitrust lawsuit to block pay TV and wireless powerhouse AT&T Inc’s $85.4 billion deal to buy Time Warner Inc, a person briefed on the matter said.

** Australian accounting software provider Reckon Ltd said it would sell its accounting practice management software business to MYOB Group for A$180 million ($136.57 million) in an all-cash deal to pay off debt.

** Mattel Inc has rebuffed Hasbro Inc’s latest takeover approach, people familiar with the matter said, casting uncertainty over the potential combination of the world’s two largest toy companies.

** The BBC’s commercial arm is considering a 500-million-pound ($658.55 million) bid for full control of broadcaster UKTV, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported, citing sources.

** Canada’s BlackBerry Ltd, said it agreed to allow Teletry, a unit of patent licensing firm Marconi Group, to sub-license a broad range of its patents to global smartphone manufacturers. (Compiled by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru)